Submitted by
Gard on Sat, 2003-11-08 03:13.
Quake 2
Clip Brush Q&A; - Various
Do I REALLY need to use Clip brushes? It seems like a lot of tedious work!
The harsh reality is that creating Clip brushes in levels, especially
large ones, is a pretty tedious job. Especially since you'll typically
want to add them after doing all of the structural and texture work of
your level. So, it's one thing that is often overlooked by most
mappers.
However, if you want your map to be played, or at the very least
be enjoyed by many people (which is the reason most people publish
maps), then you really should spend the time creating Clip brushes.
Nothing is more frustrating in a deathmatch game than to be running
backwards while firing, only to be stuck by a small light fixture!
Is preventing the player from getting stuck the only practical use for Clip brushes?
No. Clip brushes can be used in a variety of situations. For
example, let's say you created a hole in a wall from an explosion. In
this hole, you had the quad damage. While everything might be setup by
brushes for the player to crawl into that gap, the player might not be
able to get out. In this case, you could create a ramp with the clip
brush to make it easier for the player to get back out.
Can I use Clip brushes TOO much?
Like any tool or technique in Quake 2 editing, it's sometimes
easy to go overboard. Keep in mind you can't ever completely prevent
the player from getting stuck. Likewise, it's also very easy to abuse
Clip brushes by putting them in a place where they block the player's
movement with no indication as to why. While this may be a interesting
effect for a while, it very quickly becomes frustrating.
As with everything else in Quake 2, be sure to test your level
after adding Clip brushes - it's very easy to forget you're working in a
3D world - and that Clip brush which keeps the player from getting
snagged on the first floor may end up accidentally blocking a doorway on
the second floor!
I just have some small light fixtures along my wall and using
Clip brushes seems a bit too tedious. Is there another way to handle
this?
If you've got a lot of small items sticking out of a wall, you
can change their content property to Mist (or AUX) which allows the
player to pass through them without the need for Clip brushes. However,
this is really only useful for small items since the player passes
completely through the object. So, if you had some big columns, this
technique probably wouldn't be practical. But, for small light
fixtures, this is sometimes quicker and easier than using Clip brushes!
Area Light
Entity Properties